Having some serious second thoughts

[Rainydayz 3]

One thing I can say that is true, and I found this out from my last fill, is that this is a step by step process, Every Time you get a fill, you get a little closer to the point where you are less, and less hungry. I now am really not even hungry. I find myself journaling about 700 calories a day, and with the Protein shake for lunch,,, well so far this is a snap,

When I feel like I'm starving to death !!! I will go in for a fill, and that terrible feeling will be gone again.

So in this way it helps me out a lot. I hope you understand that it makes it possible without to much suffering or anxiety to try and do this, It's like pain Medication, it only takes the edge of.

700? Wow. That doesn't sound like very much. I think I probably just ate more than 700 for dinner!

OK, so when you start to feel the hunger and cravings come back you go for a fill right? What happens when your band is totally full? Does that ever happen? Would your body adjust to it and make it ineffective over the long haul? I'm just really concerned about the long-term.

[54Shirley 105]

700? Wow. That doesn't sound like very much. I think I probably just ate more than 700 for dinner!

OK, so when you start to feel the hunger and cravings come back you go for a fill right? What happens when your band is totally full? Does that ever happen? Would your body adjust to it and make it ineffective over the long haul? I'm just really concerned about the long-term.

As far as I know,,, You usually don't hit the size of your band in cc's Like mine is 4cc, I'm at 2.5 now, Next time maybe 2.7, and the same results.

From what I was told. We get to a certain spot and stay comfortable with it, otherwise we go into the RED ZONE ! Can't swallow spit.. So I'll take

this one day at a time, get a fill when I need it, and look forward to getting to the point that I am either not starving "I HATE THAT !" and stay comfortable.

That would work for me..

And yes, my calorie intake is really low, and I am not hungry. If I get Hungry I can always have a S.F pudding, or about 4 ounces of Water, "Like I need water..."

and hunger pain would be gone. Also I get hungry about every 5 hours. THAT IS GREAT. I can watch my grocery bill shrink..

But yeagh,,,, that's how the band works step by step process. If you get it,, Please keep that in mind, because in the beginning it's not a miracle cure.

[mattie7632 24]

Do you happen to know if the 4cc bandsters get the same success? I've read that a lot of folks here have much more than 4cc in their newer bands.....or is the 4cc band smaller/tighter so there is not a need for up to 7-8-9 or more cc's to reach ideal restriction? Sorry if off topic....

As far as I know,,, You usually don't hit the size of your band in cc's Like mine is 4cc, I'm at 2.5 now, Next time maybe 2.7, and the same results.

From what I was told. We get to a certain spot and stay comfortable with it, otherwise we go into the RED ZONE ! Can't swallow spit.. So I'll take

this one day at a time, get a fill when I need it, and look forward to getting to the point that I am either not starving "I HATE THAT !" and stay comfortable.

That would work for me..

And yes, my calorie intake is really low, and I am not hungry. If I get Hungry I can always have a S.F pudding, or about 4 ounces of Water, "Like I need water..."

and hunger pain would be gone. Also I get hungry about every 5 hours. THAT IS GREAT. I can watch my grocery bill shrink..

But yeagh,,,, that's how the band works step by step process. If you get it,, Please keep that in mind, because in the beginning it's not a miracle cure.

[Dave_NW 92]

re: "After several bites of chicken and several more of vegetables and a bite or two of brown rice, my ravenous appetite just clicked off. I was suddenly and completely full, and satisfied with what I'd eaten. " Dave: great illustration!!!! That happens to me also on many occasions. I disagree with calling the sensation 'being FULL' though. I have rigorously worked to study what "full" is to me....and the sensation of "full" is not the same as "satiated". In my days of wearing size 56/58 pants I was concerned about 'full'. In my postOp life at size 42/44, I prefer to label it "satiated". In any case, we are talking about the very same behavior, which is to not OVER eat despite our intention, opportunity and motives. Hooray for the Band!!!

Jack, you're absolutely right. What I meant was that I felt I no longer wanted to eat. I'm still learning a new vocabulary, so to me "full" is the same thing as "no longer hungry." In my pre-band life, if I'd stopped eating after so few bites, my stomach would still have been rumbling, and I'd have felt myself to be still quite hungry.

Yeah, I'm liking the band. It's a challenge, but it's a good fight, I think.

Dave

[stevenjoec 0]

This is just my .02 and 'impression'...not fact...but it seems like some are very successful because they have this mental "I just spent all this money and I will make it work" and others actually do get some restriction which limits how much they can eat and/or eliminates their hunger and desire to eat. Whatever works. In both cases, they're now able to exert the willpower and self-control needed to not just eat because they 'want' to eat. Even at my sweet spot when I was able to go 4-5 hours between meals without hunger and was no longer obsessed with food, I still thought about food...but the lack of hunger and appetite suppression made it possible for me to walk by that vending machine or drive by that fast food place more consistently and long-term. Did I do it perfectly? No...but certainly more consistently than before the band.

The reality is that every WLS requires self-control and willpower. Band, sleeve or bypass...it's not a quick fix anymore than Weight Watchers, counting calories or any other diet is a quick fix. The *only* advantage I see to sleeve and bypass is that initially you lose a lot of weight fast...why may create its own set of problems.

I think you have to ask yourself, if you could stay on Weight Watchers or any other diet long term, why are you overweight now? The answer to that question may help you decide whether the band is for you or whether you can do it without the band.

Did you say you were having your band removed? If so, just curious, would your insurance covers a removal if it was causing you pain, etc?

[Dave_NW 92]

And so is this a sensation you never felt before the band? Could it be that you feel it now because you have decided that you've put this much into the Band and you're going to make it work and you're really, really trying to listen to your body now? Or is the band really making you feel that satiated feeling with less food?

Those are good questions that deserve a good answer:

My pre-band eating was that I never felt "full." I'd abused my system by chronic dieting for so many years, I never knew what "full" was like. I could eat as much and as often as I wanted, and only after I'd eaten way too much, and my stomach was bloated and I was miserable, did I decide I felt "full." There was no off-switch to my appetite, and no matter how much I'd just eaten, within a few hours I'd be at it again.

Since being banded, if I eat in a hurry, or don't stop to assess what my body is telling me, I can still eat way more than I should. Last night was a time when I expected to eat too much, because I was so hungry. But because I was eating slowly, after a few bites I felt like I'd had enough and I didn't need to eat more. In my pre-banding days I'd have been so afraid of being hungry again soon after completing the meal, I'd have continued until I was stuffed. So this sensation is pretty new, and it's not a bad feeling at all. I'm learning how to eat right, after many years of eating wrong.

Yes, the band is making me feel satiated with less food. If I eat according to the bandster protocol, I can go three or four hours between meals with no hunger, no cravings, and no desire to graze or cheat. I do try to eat about every four hours or so, to keep the satisfied feeling going, and so my blood sugar doesn't crash. I don't feel deprived, nor do I feel like I have to overeat in case I don't get the chance to eat a big meal soon enough later on. I'm losing my longtime fear of being hungry and unable to satisfy my appetite. That's new for me, and I feel the band is responsible.

I don't feel that I'm feeling this way because I've put so much into the band and I'm just now listening to my body. My body is sending me very new signals, and they're very different than ever before. This is all new since banding, and it's very real. It's also a comforting feeling, since my greatest fear pre-banding was of being hungry, and having no way to satisfy my hunger. I love that the ball and chain shackeling me to the refrigerator or fast food drive thru are slipping further and further into the past.

For me, banding was truly life-changing, and it's not just in my head. As I've said before, my biggest regret of getting banded was that I didn't do it years ago.

Dave

[Jack 855]

re: " And so is this a sensation you never felt before the band?" Yes, preBand I _NEVER_ had the sensation of "satiety"....it was a word I had to look up in the dictionary. It was an intellectual term, not one I had experienced. For me, the sudden realization I had spent my life eating in pursuit of becoming "full".....which I eventually could, but it never lasted, which then over the years became a sort of marathon/search for the (un)holy grail...that "full" meant "not hungry"....which I ALWAYS was...'hungry' in an very abnormal way. I learned to eat to avoid becoming the dreaded 'unfull' / 'unhungry'. So for me at least, the discovery that there is a different reason with entirely different triggering mechanisms, to eat. And that is "hunger". My "hunger" was never satisfied by eating. I think that qualifies as some kind of psychoemotional abnormality.

[Jack 855]

postBand, it was an entirely new and welcomed feeling, to not wake up with the first thoughts of 'What's to eat?' Or in the middle of eating, planning on what to eat next. Of stopping for a bag-o-burgers on the way to dinner.

It was madness befitting a Stephen King novel.

postBand, the absence of "The Craving" was entirely a new and most welcomed state.

"Satiety" is a far better sensation to me than 'full'.....full doesn't last long, 'satiety' goes on for hours.

[Dave_NW 92]

postBand, it was an entirely new and welcomed feeling, to not wake up with the first thoughts of 'What's to eat?' Or in the middle of eating, planning on what to eat next. Of stopping for a bag-o-burgers on the way to dinner.

It was madness befitting a Stephen King novel.

postBand, the absence of "The Craving" was entirely a new and most welcomed state.

"Satiety" is a far better sensation to me than 'full'.....full doesn't last long, 'satiety' goes on for hours.

Jack, the more I read of you, the more I'm convinced we're twins separated at birth. This is amazing to read about somone else who felt/feels as I did/do. Cool!

Dave

[Rainydayz 3]

Dave and Jack, I think both of you have done an excellent job of explaining the way the band works for you. I am really getting the idea of the difference between full and satiety. For the past few years I have been in the search for the Holy Grail of fullness as well. (Love that line). I know the panicky feeling of not knowing when I'll be able to eat again. I would love to have the power to stop after a normal amount and be satisfied for hours. Wow. Now that's the Holy Grail!

[54Shirley 105]

As far as the band sizes, you can look them up on Lap Bands site or even on YOU TUBE they have quite a bit of info. there.

Also the Realise Band is suppose have a unique fit that the balloon can not stretch !!! That would be interesting

The 4cc Band is the original Band. The other is the newer one. I can't comment on that one, because I don't even know anyone that has one.

But this 4cc,,,,, when she tightens up, it stays tightened up. The Fluid is in there so tight that it doesn't even evaporate. It's there to stay. I learned that on this last fill. 3yrs. since I have been able to be seen, and it still had Fluid in it. Just not enough for restriction

I also seen a comment about eating some of this, and a little of that, and then instantly full. That's not because we paid for it or want it to work that way. That's the way the Band works, I had some homemade turkey broth before dinner, and for dinner I had a chicken thigh. I ate 4 or 5 small pieces, and my head went click! your full, and that's when you know to stop eating. Also if for some reason you hiccup, like one time, that's telling you, that you are full. Mine kicked in after I stopped my Dinner.

[Dave_NW 92]

Also the Realise Band is suppose have a unique fit that the balloon can not stretch !!! That would be interesting

That's an interesting idea. I've seen both bands during pre-op seminars, and it seems the main difference is the Allergan band has a number of "pockets" that make up the band, so maybe seven or so segments? It makes up a roughly circular shape. The Realize band has fewer "pockets" and makes more of a triangular shape.

I asked my surgeon which he uses, and he said they stopped using the Realize band because it had too many problems. He said they only use the Allergan band these days. He wasn't specific about what kind of problems. (My surgeon was Dr. Ross McMahon, head of the Bariatric Surgery Center at Swedish Hospital in Seattle.)

Dave

[54Shirley 105]

That's an interesting idea. I've seen both bands during pre-op seminars, and it seems the main difference is the Allergan band has a number of "pockets" that make up the band, so maybe seven or so segments? It makes up a roughly circular shape. The Realize band has fewer "pockets" and makes more of a triangular shape.

I asked my surgeon which he uses, and he said they stopped using the Realize band because it had too many problems. He said they only use the Allergan band these days. He wasn't specific about what kind of problems. (My surgeon was Dr. Ross McMahon, head of the Bariatric Surgery Center at Swedish Hospital in Seattle.)

Dave

That's really different then the Lap Band.

Shirley.

[Dave_NW 92]

That's really different then the Lap Band.

Shirley.

I thought the Allergan band IS the Lap Band. Am I missing something?

Dave

[54Shirley 105]

I thought the Allergan band IS the Lap Band. Am I missing something?

Dave

NO your not... I was talking about the realize band being different.. as in Triangular.